Sending Samples - Who Pays Shipping?

I've sent a few samples to shops/galleries in the past, but never overseas, as per a recent request. Do galleries usually pay the shipping on samples? It is usually only a few items, but it could get expensive if it happens often and/or to far away locations. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I'd think that If a GOOD gallery is interested enough in your work to enquire about handling it, they'd take the MINOR financial risk of investing in a piece or two (including shipping) to 'test the waters'. The exception would be pieces that are in the thousands and thousands of dollaers range... and that is not going to happen via an unexpected email contact.

I'd be VERY careful of this one. Get references, get a physical location. And if you are going to swend samples... THEY should pay for them up-front. Of course they should pay shipping.

Watch out for the "Certified Bank Check" overpayment scam. You'll get payment with what looks like a very certified REAL bank check, but they will "accidentially" overpay the amount they owe you. They'll ask you to "refund" them the differnce (soooooooo sorry about the mistake). That check will fool even your own bank (for a while). You'll send off a refund payment to them... and by the time your bank finds out that the "bank check" was actually a fraud and won't clear...... and charges back your account for the deposit they already had credited......... the perpetrators will have cashed your "refund" and be gone. Standard scam.... and it is showing up in studio artist circles all the time now in various permutations.

This is a real, and very bona-fide upstanding shop. It is not a gallery, but rather an actual boutique/shop in England. I think it is probably more common in the clothes industry to send samples, so perhaps that is where it comes from? I can't imagine that a store (actually they have several stores) would be that interested in swindling me out of two mugs and a tiny bud vase....I just wondered if it would be cheeky for me to ask for them to pay shipping. However, upon further consideration, I think that I'll pay, and then they can either add the 2-3 items to an eventual order, or pay to ship them back to me....

Do you already have a relationship with the shop owner/manager that merits special treatment? Is this the norm for them to consider a new vendor? How long are you willing to wait for payment? If they paid you up front and then wanted to return the work, would you accept the return and refund their money, and where would shipping cost fall in this scenario? Or are you comfortable taking all the risk because of possible future business? How valuable is this potential? Would inclusion in this shop be a big deal? A lot of this is really about how potentially valuable the shop is to you VERSUS how potentially valuable you are to the shop.

Are you sending a subliminal message about the value of your work by focusing only on the shipping cost? Do you ship work to other places free of charge? If so, what's the comparison?

Reverse the thought process...Would the shop send you samples of a few pieces of clothing so you could choose what you liked and return the rest with payment only for what you kept? Who would pay to ship to you, and who would pay to ship back to the shop? Aside from honesty, what would prevent you from choosing not to return anything AND not making payment (if damage to your reputation and/or legal action was unlikely)? Could the shop (you, in this case) afford the loss and violation of trust?

This strikes me as odd. at first i thought scam, scam, scam, but maybe not. i would definitely charge for the shipping, a little bit for the packing, and it's up to you how you want to think about the sample itself. send a small one if possible.

Sending samples is not so unusual if you make ceramic tile. Actually I am surprised that so FEW people ask for samples.

I often sell the samples to the customer, and then if they place an order , (and you might want to stipulate a minimum order) , I will discount off of the order invoice some or all of the price of the samples. This works as an incentive for them to place an order.

I do charge for samples. generally I charge $10 for shipping, and $2 ea for 2X2 glaze samples... if the customer wants to see a sliced section of molding, etc, i charge based on what they want. I sell directly to customers .

generally ,unless the samples are large or extensive, i really just want to compensate for the shipping, and a little bit more.

Showrooms , architects and designers want a whole other level of samples and will often ask for a large number of samples and if they can get them for free, they will !I have done this a few times, but only when i had a standing business relationship (with an architect) who I knew would come through. otherwise , charge for your samples , or you can easily find yourself out the dollars and the work with no follow up business.

i discovered this the hard way 1. from a cruise ship line , that asked for about $300 worth of samples and never placed an order or returned samples, and 2, Sunset magazine, also asked for about $200 in samples to photograph for an article, and said they would return the pieces. So I sent them some nice tiles. they never returned the pieces, and the photos never showed up in an article. but someone somewhere has some nice free tile in their office or home, or it's in a box somewhere where no one will ever see it. never got any referrals or so much as a thank you either. learning experience!.

re reading, I see that you have found out the place is legit. if you do start a business relationship with them, you will need to make sure your shipping costs are accounted for. If they are really interested in your work,paying for shipping of a small sample should not faze them. Think about the psychology of it and try to set up good patterns early.